Consilience

This is a really interesting question that Im honestly unsure of.

Right. Im trying to let this observation fully sink in.

Ideologies can require very nuanced thinking though, even if ultimately false

Orange. Taking logic and rationality to its fullest extent requires a subtle and nuanced mind, at least that was my experience back when I was caught up in stage orange. You cant excel at subjects like philosophy, math, engineering without being able to think incredibly logically, even before systems thinking comes into play, but often times these subjects have very subtle/nuanced details utilizing various forms of logic and or rationality.

This is a really good insight. Hating on the ego is actually just another layer of self identity; our goal is to transcend and discover the nature of ego, not become egotisitical about hating on the ego. Ego hate is actually a very counter intuitive egoci trap people can easily fall into imo - great insight d00d

Really great explanation.

Even from a perspective of self, what is a preference? It’s a variation of desire right? So what is a desire? Desire is a clinging to a thought or idea about the future. So what is clinging? More thoughts? So thoughts generating clinging-thoughts generating positive feelings which were what the preference consisted of. Preferences seem to be generated out of the concept that a certain future x may be achieved by certain actions y. But the underlying nature of a preference is that we confuse the outcome “x” as being positive or negatice, but if you look at any outcome of the future, it’s neither good or bad, so the underlying structure of a preference is based on... more thoughts which themselves don’t exist in the outside world. Maybe none of what Im saying makes sense or resonates. Either way I think contemplating the nature of preference is the next step, not whether or not there is no self. Preferences clearly exist in some form, so unraveling their nature can be done from the perspective of a self or no self.

Wow this was a really interesting read... @Jack River what are your thoughts on this dude? You frequently mention that intention only feeds thought and therefore psychological time which leads you to claim intention should be dropped. This outline makes a strong case that intention should be sustained in the beginning though. Thoughts?

@Andreas You think Putin is beyond Turquoise or even embodies Turquoise? Lmao

@pluto Great post... Very simplistic

I defintely agree. Humanity is reaching an inflection point where we’ll either collectively slingshot oursleves into a new era or plunge into a new dark age or possibly extinction. If we fuck up AI, fuck up genetic engineering, fuck up the economy, fuck up the planet beyond healing, and generally just fuck ourselves... we’re fucked haha. My point is A LOT could go wrong, but assuming the stars align, we could enter into a new “golden age” previously unrivaled. Exciting times to be alive!

@Erlend K Well ignoring the fact that 1/4th of CO2 emissions is still a large amount, CO2 isn't the only greenhouse gas, and greenhouse gas emission isn't the only problem with the meat, diary, and agriculture industries. Deforestation (we're essentially killing off the lungs of planet Earth with this one), fishery exploitation, mass extinctions and loss of biodiversity, depletion of freshwater sources, animal cruelty, an insane obesity and health epidemic... You want to talk about fixing the environment? Start by fixing how we sustainable feed 7+ BILLION people on this planet, plus feed the animals used to feed the glutenous desires of meat and diary consumers. The meat and diary industry is one of the most wasteful, stage orange, industries humanity willfully and collectively ignores. Not only is it one of the (if not THE) leading source of environmental degradation, it produces an unfathomable amount of suffering so... You all can pick. I suspect if we can make it into the next century, humanity will look back and simply ask, "Why?" lol

You don't have to agree with the data, but it doesn't change what the data indicates. Edit: You have to consider the greenhouse gas emission that would normally be recycled from plant mass (aka forests) that is now NOT being recycled out of the atmosphere due to deforestation, deforestation that is a direct result from the demand for meat and diary. Also if you look into the amount of methane livestock produce, its quite insane. So look into it imo and let the scientific research speak for itself, not some dude on the internet haha. But yes, everything else from health and wellbeing, to living more ethically are other benefits as well. You gotta make sure and do your research when it comes to health though - veganism lacks certain nutrients an omnivore diet would cover such as B12, omega-3s, vitamin D3, etc.

A massive societal shift towards veganism would help drastically slow down environmental degradation. But no one wants to hear or admit that the meat and diary industries are the main drivers of deforestation, water usage, and green house gas emission.

Fuck I never realized this about concentration but I understand what you meant about techniques awhile back... something clicked when I read this thank yout pt. 2 dawg! The thing is though, if one were to rest in a state of awareness, isn’t this the same mechanism of concentration, except like... infinitely expanded? So an open awareness of all of the present moment would be total expansion of a state of concentration. Concentration and awareness are both resting in the present moment. The difference is awareness is completely undivided.

@Jack River Thank you for the insights d00d

@Jack River How does one begin on the path if there is no initial desire to understand? What was your journey like in the beginning? Did you spontaneously drop all desires and identifications, or was there a force, a curiosity of some sort pushing you to learn?

It's more like the subconscious mind is an "uncognized" aspect of our direct experience; as in we have hidden, unconscious beliefs, concepts, and assumptions all tugging on our attention, all directing our experience of life in various ways. The Book of Not Knowing by Peter Ralston goes into a lot of detail with this "uncognized" mind and how through contemplation, we can uncover hidden emotional, social, and self-survival programs, beliefs, assumptions, etc. we unknowingly walk around with. For example, let's take anger: often times people confuse certain circumstances as the cause of the emotion of anger, but if you look closely enough, you'll notice that external stimuli do not "cause" the emotions of anger - the circumstance and the emotions are quite distinct. We only assume that we "should be" angry at something, but WHY are we angry? Why do we equate external circumstance, X, with anger? So basically, start deeply contemplating your emotions, your self images, your beliefs and try to get at the root beliefs that you may be unconsiously walking around with. This is a pretty brief overview, and probably poorly worded, but hopefully it helps. There's definitely A LOT to this subject, and much I personally am still trying to learn and contemplate.

Ive seen this debate before - it’s excellent

I eat a vegan diet. As long as you’re supplementing with the appropriate nutrients, it’s completely healthy. In terms of social situations, what matters more - fitting in socially or supporting the meat and diary industry? I honestly dont understand how anyone who claims to be spiritual could support these industries if there’s the option not to but to each their own. Notice how easily the mind can justify any behavior though; it’s a lot easier to conform to social programming than to look at the truth of these industries.

@Joseph Maynor thank you for the questions. Im just going to have to contemplate all of this as you suggest...

What do you mean that experience is illusory here? Why would pure, present moment experience not be consciousness? And why are you seperating your self from it? That distinction seems like a conceptual duality

This is an interesting concept you’ve outlined

@ajasatya While I actually prefer vaping to smoking, Ive never felt that smoking takes away from its healing potential, at least in terms of psychological healing. Nor have I found smoking it to be anymore addictive than vaping..? Im not sure if you’re speaking from your own experience but Im fairly certain it would come down to the individual. In terms of OP, yeah cannabis can be used as a spiritual tool as long as it’s in moderation. Daily smoking or even frequent use really takes away from its potential, at least for me. Plus my body literally feels healthier when I dont frequently use. But... the potential is definitely there. Im not confident I would have ever stumbled upon consciousness work had it not been for my experiences with the plant.

Well I can't take any credit. Like I said, it was from the Vinay Gupta who claimed he was enlightened. It IS a really creative manta though - incredibly simple and if you have a visual mind, it brings about a very peaceful image of sunflowers haha. I really like the attitude of "even if it kills me" haha. Strong determination sitting is the way to go when meditating